Patriots Hang On and Beat Falcons 30-23

Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images (ATLANTA) — Once again, the New England Patroits found a way to win.

Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib batted down a fourth down pass in the Pats end zone with 36 seconds remaining, giving the ball and the win to the Patriots 30-23 Sunday night.

The win improves the Patriots record to 4-0 for the first time since 2007.

“We slugged it out,” Brady said who finished the game with 316 passing yards and two touchdowns. “We came to Atlanta, which is a tough place to play and they’ve got a very good team. It’s nice to win and be 4-0.”

But it almost didn’t happen. Stephen Gostkowski’s 49 yard field-goal with 6:18 remaining gave the Pats a 30-13 lead. Then the Falcons stormed back. Matt Ryan led Atlanta on back-to-back scoring drives, with Matt Bryants’ 25 yard field-goal with 2:55 remaining making the score 30-23. The Falcons were able to get the ball one more time, but failed to score with four shots from within the New England 14 yard line.

“Well, our red zone efficiency was not what we needed it to be, again, in this ballgame,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “We’re just not executing like we need to in the red zone. We are moving the ball well between the 20s, but we’re not ending with touchdowns. We’ve got to score touchdowns in this league. It’s an offensive league and you’ve got to score touchdowns.”

Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez had 12 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons dropped to 1-3 for the season.